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Google’s real-time language translator comes to Assistant on Android and iOS
Google LLC’s real-time interpreter is now available on Android and iOS phones in 44 languages, the company announced Thursday.
A handy app for travelers, the feature was previously only available for Google’s Home smart speakers. When traveling abroad a person can now say, “Hey Google, be my Portuguese translator” or “Hey Google, help me speak Polish,” and the interpreter will kick in. No additional downloads are necessary since the app is already built into the assistant.
Google gave another example of the interpret mode in German. The person simply states in the microphone, “Does this dish contain peanuts? I’m allergic to peanuts.” The device then translated that to German. The app doesn’t require the person to click on anything for the reply. The translations will be in both languages.
Of the 44 languages currently available, there is Mandarin Chinese (no Cantonese as yet), Arabic, Hindi, Russian, French, German. Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Thai and Vietnamese. Google didn’t say if there are plans to add more languages soon.
The feature will also offer some “smart replies,” so the speaker doesn’t necessarily have to say anything. Users can choose to turn off the speaker if they prefer not to telegraph their conversation to everyone else, and the translations will appear only as text.
Earlier this year Google piloted the interpreter feature at the front desk of hotels in the U.S., saying that in the past some hotels were struggling to translate for so many people.
“At Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, where the concierge team welcome numerous international guests due to the hotel’s proximity to the airport, Korean, Japanese and Mandarin have been the top translated languages,” Google said. “Guests typically use the feature to get help with questions about San Francisco landmarks, tourist destinations and to discover restaurants nearby.”
The drawback for some people is that the feature will only work when the phone is online, although Google has hinted that an offline version could be in the pipeline.
Photo: Google
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